Boy had surgery to realign broken leg

Donavan Arredondo doesn’t remember his right leg getting run over by a sport utility vehicle, but he does remember getting hit by the front bumper Friday evening.

Donavan, 10, of Greeley was crossing the parking lot of the Greeley-Evans Youth Sports Complex on his way to his baseball game when he was hit by Barbara Braun, 36, of Evans. After he was hit by the front bumper, the back tire ran over his leg, said his mother, Misty Arredondo, 30, of Greeley.

Donavan was taken to North Colorado Medical Center by ambulance, and he spent the night there before undergoing surgery Saturday morning.

Arredondo said Donavan was terrified to go into surgery, but he came out asking if he had gone through it yet. She expected him to be released Saturday evening.

“He broke both bones above the ankle,” Arredondo said. “They had to go in to realign the bones.”

Donavan will need physical therapy for one to two years, and he faces the possibility of a limp if the bones do not heal correctly, Arredondo said.

Recommended Stories For You

“I’m mad because there’s kids going through there all the time. You need to be careful,” Donovan’s mother said.

His teammates told Donovan’s mother a group of them were crossing, and Braun was at a complete stop, while talking on a cell phone. She began moving and hit Donavan as he began to cross.

Donavan’s brother, Ismaldo Arredondo III, 11, had already crossed when his brother was hit. He heard that his brother was hit by a vehicle, and he ran to the scene, Arredondo said.

“He was lying on the floor hugging him, crying and screaming,” Arredondo said.

Arredondo was on her way to the fields when she got the call, and she met up with her son at the hospital.

She will not be getting any financial assistance because Braun was not charged. She was not charged because Donavan ran into her vehicle, said Greeley Police Department Lt. Carl Alm.